Comestible container



P. w. PETERSEN COMESTIBLE CONTAINER Filed Abril 16. 1923 March 25 1924 rive/7Z0 1941/1. M UE/REEN [16. M -6Zflb.

Patented Mar. 25, 392%.

PAUL W. EETE Li To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PAUL W. Parmesan, a subject of the Kingdom of Denmark, residing at Bay City, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, United States of America, have invented new and useful Improvements in Comestible Containers, of whichthe following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,- reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification.

' -My invention relates to a method of treating containers wherein comestibles are to be acked for cold storage.

11 important object of my invention is to so treat the container that the wood or other material whereof it is constructed does not absorb or draw moisture from the comestibles therein during a reasonable term of storage.

Another object'of m invention is to so treat the containers t at when piled. on trucks or one on top of another for storage, they slide easily one upon the other.

A still further object of my invention is to seal cracks in the various members of the container so as to hinder the free circulation of air through the container while the same is in use in cold. storage.

It is at present the ordinary practice to pack comestibles such as fish which have been frozen, in wooden boxes, for cold storage. After the comestible so packed has been stored for a length of time it will be found that the surfaces of such comestibles packed directly adjacent to the walls of the box, more particularly perhaps the lid and the bottom, will be slightly aded or dried out. While the conditions prevailing in-the cold'storage room may be partly responsible for the drying and consequent fading of the comestibles stored, part of this drying out process is caused by the wood of the boxes which has the, effect of drawing or absorbing moisture from the comestible.

The fading 0r drying out'of the comestible detracts from, the weight and the pleasing appearance thereof. It is therefore-a commercial draw-back which has long been rec? ognized bythe trade, and various attempts to overcome this draw-back have been made. It is, for instance, now common practice to glue thefrozen fish-with a coating of ice before they are packed in a wooden box.

The glazing process comprises immersion of the frozen article in a bath of waterretreat EN, GE BAY CITY, MICHIGAN.

CONTAINER.

1923. Serial No. 632,275.

whereby the water adjacent to the article freezes into a thin sheet of ice surrounding and enclosing the article. Comestibles such as fish are also often packed tightly in pans, or cans, so tightly that they freeze together in a solid cake, whereafter this cake is treated as a unit when glazed. Such cakes may be easily and conveniently packed in a rectangular box and the surfaces of the top and the bottom cakes are. often laced directly adjacent to the lid and the ttom of the box. The shell of ice protects the enclosed comestible from evaporation during cold storage, as long as the shell of ice lasts. The coatingof ice itself will evaporate after a time, and when it becomes fully evaporated at any particular portion of the comestible, that portion will be subject to the drying action, above mentioned, and a considerable loss of weight through evaporation will result during the remainder of the storage period.

Although moisture may not commonly be definable as including ice, the word moisture as used herein is intended to ap- 'ply to and include ice inasmuch as ice can be evaporated and in the form of vapor can be drawn out of a comestible by contact with a wooden surface, the other side of which is refrigerated to a temperature below that of the ice in question. When oomestibles which have been glazed, such for example as fish, are packed in a box, the detrimental developments referred to above will still take place, although to a slighter and slower degree than when the comestibles are unglazed. If the box is lined with paper or the comestibles inside the box have been wrapped in paper, the detrimental developments may be still further retarded and delayed, but not, however, entirely eliminated.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing objects and other objects that ma hereinafter appear and in order to avoi the disadvantages previously experienced, I have designed a container and have perfected a method of treating such a container as hereinafter described and illustrated in the ac companying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional view showinga container while being glazed by -partial immersion in a bath of water; j

Fig.2 is a detail perspective view of a box-shook, a number of which may be assembled together to form a box of the type usedin carrying out my process;

tilt) of ice in accordance with m Fig. 3 is a sectional view illustrating a storage container or box having its interior and exterior surfaces covered with a glazing inventlon, a plurality of cakes of glazed ozencomestibles being shown packed therein.

Referring to Fig. 1, a tank or trough of water is indicated at 10 into which acontainer 11 may be wholly or partly immersed as desired. Ihe container 11 may be made up of a number of box-shooks such as 12, each of which may form a side or end to the box. Each of the box-shooks 12 may be constructed in any well known manner, as b fixing together with brads 13 a number of sl abs 14. The boxes may preferably be "composed of a fibrous material, suchfor example as wood.

I have found that if the comestible container or box itself is glazed, or the particular parts" or box-shooks 12 which in practice cause most of the detrimental development, such as the bottom 15 and the lid 16 are glazed, then the detrimental de-- velopments referred to above will not take place until such glazing has disappeared through evaporation. I have further found that wood as commonly used in cold storage boxes varies in the de of moisture contained in the fibre. at I therefore do in practice is this: Before utilizing boxes for packing comestibles which are to be packed in a cold room for cold storage purposes,

I cool the box itself, or certain members thereof, such as the box-shocks 12 to a degree sufficient to render the box or members thereof susceptible to glazing when immersed in cold water. The box is used for packin only after such glazing has taken place f the wood gives evidences of being articularly dry before being stored it may be soaked in water before it is coole During this preliminary coolin a part of the moisture content of the woo may evaporate, but all of it need not be drawn off because the preliminary cooling need consume only a comparatively short time and the evaporation process can only be completed over a prolonged span oftime.

I have found that in glazing a box or members thereof in this manner, it is convenient to laze both the inside and outside surfaces. uch glazing of both surfaces will tend to stillfunther retard the above described detrimental develo ments and will also provide the outside sur aces, or portions thereof, withan ice coatin which will render the box easil slidab e and will thus facilitate the han ing thereof in cold storage. I have also found that such glazing stops up the crevices, or interstices, in the various members and also often the crevices 17 between the various members of a box a great many cases I have found it to be advantageous to hinder the free circulation of air through individual boxes during cold sto I It is evident that the boxes when glazed in the above indicated planner are provided with a coating of ice entirely independent of any glazing that may have been applied to the contents. The process com rising my pp its contents, such additional g azing'somebeing advisable after the original glazing has become evaporated afterv storage for several months.

a From the foregoing desc obvious that I have provide simple, inexpensive and practical method 0 treating containers in which comestibles are packed for cold storage purposes, which method avoids disadvantages previously experienced vwith such containers.

While I have described my invention and certain specific embodiments thereof in detail, it is to be understood that modification may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Having thus describedv my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States,

1. A container for the storage of comestibles comprising a box, and a lazing of ice within said box upon sur ace areas thereof that are adapted to contact with the comestible.

2. A container for the storage of comestibles comprising a box, and a glazing of ice entirely covering the interior surfaces of said box.

3. A container for the storage of comestibles com rising a box having a glazing of firmly bottom surface thereof.

4. A container for the storage of comestibles comprising a box, and a glaz' of ice covering the interior and exterior ttom surfaces thereof.

5. A container for the storage of comestibles comprising a box, and a glazing of ice covering the interior bottom and top surfaces thereof.

6. A container of the class described comprising a box composed of fibrous material, and afirmly adhering coating of ice upon rigition, it will be 8. ver

ering ice covering the interior emcee surf sliding.

9. The method of treating box-shocks which consists in first subjecting them to a ing temperature, then immersing them in a bath of water, and then again subjecting them to a freezing temperature 10. ihe method of treating box-shocks which consists in first immersing them in a bath of water, second, subjecti them to a freezing temperature until their temperature falls be ow 32 F, third, immersing them in a bath of water, and then subjecting them to a freezin temperature 11. The method 0 treating a container for the storage of comestibles therein which comprises first lowering the tom rature thereof to a int below 32 F. a, second, ersi t e empty container in a bath of water or a short period whereby a firmly adhering lazing oi ice is imparted to the surfaces t ereof.

12. The method of treating acontainer or fibrous material to be used for the store of frozen comestibles which fi t 2 5 m thGIfiOf are add. contact with immersin the containerin a bath of water for a s iicient period to saturate the fibre, second, subjecting the container to a free. ing temperature, third, again immersing the container when empty in a bath of water, and thensubj ecting the container to a freezing temperature.

13. The method of storing frozen comestibles and maintaining a subnormal rate of moisture evaporation therefrom which comprisesfirst packing the comestibles in a container interior surfaces of which are covered with a coating of ice, and then renewing the coating of ice at intervals by wetting at a low temperature the surfaces of the container and the comestibles packed therein.

14. The method of storing frozen comestibles and maintaining a subnormal rate of moisture evaporation therefrom which comprises first packing the comestiblesin a container interior surfaces of which are covcred with a coating of ice, and then renewing the coating ofice by wetting the sur fiaces of the container at a low temperature.

15. The method of storing frozen comestibles and reducing the rate of moisture evaporation therefrom, which comprises packing the comestibles in a container and lowering the temperature of the container to a point below 32 degrees F. and then immersing the container with the comestibles in a bath of cold water for a short perifl, whereby a glazing of ice is imparted to surfaces of the container and comestibles'.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto su scribed my no. r

PAUL w. rn'rna 

